Just A Game
by IdaKix
Summary: When Katniss Everdeen has the chance to go onto a reality game show and win half a million dollars, she goes in with the intent of putting her sister Prim into medical school. What she doesn't expect to find is an old friend from her past. With new twists and turns around every corner, and new friends helping her, will Katniss keep a cool head, or will it all be just a game? AU
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

I couldn't believe I let Prim talk me into this. I liked the show, yes, but to _watch_, not to actually be a part of it.

"_Please, Katniss?_" her sweet voice rang in my head as I suddenly remembered the conversation that got me into this mess.

_I sighed._ Not again_, I thought, rolling my eyes._

"_Prim, why would I want to go on that show?" I asked, turning to look at her._

_She gave me a look. "Because," she started. " You've been watching it since the very first season, you make sure to _always_ be near a T.V. whenever it's on. You're always screaming at the contestants because of how stupid they are and you're constantly saying how you could do a competition so much better if you had been doing it. Face it, Katniss." She placed her small hands on my shoulders, forcing me to look in her blue eyes. "You have always wanted to go in, but you've been lying to yourself all this time."_

_I opened my mouth to deny it, but I stopped myself, suddenly finding it difficult to say what I thought had always been true._

Dammit_, I thought, deciding to glare at my little sister instead of speaking._

_She smiled at me triumphantly. "Aha! See? You can't even deny it."_

_I abruptly stepped out from under her hands, causing them to fall to her sides and shrugged._

"_It doesn't matter if I want to go in or not," I said dejectedly, turning away from Prim. "I still have to pass the auditions and I highly doubt they're going to want someone like me on their show."_

"_You're being too hard on yourself," Prim said softly, coming to stand next to me. "You are beautiful and smart and those producers would be stupid not to put you in."_

_I scoffed but didn't answer her. Instead, I stood there, letting the silence envelop us as what she said processed._

_After a minute, Prim finally said, "At least go to the auditions. It doesn't hurt to try." And then she left the room, leaving me to my thoughts._

And that's just the beginning of the events that led me to now. In a hotel room. By myself. A thousand miles away from home. Waiting for the cameras to start rolling. Which they should be soon, if they haven't already.

For the millionth time, I cursed Prim with no real conviction. I'm half-blaming her for this. If she hadn't…Ugh! The only person I can blame is myself. Prim was right; I _have_ always wanted to go in, but that desire had always been squashed because I never believed I'd be able to get in. And now look where I am.

I had to go through the audition process of course, but that only consisted of the producers asking me a series of questions. A month passed and, well…You can only imagine my surprise when a camera was shoved in my face and I found a too-large plastic key with my name on it in my quiver of arrows.

Then it was an hour of filming for my introduction segment in the first episode. I used to think it was all fake, because it's reality T.V., so you'd think it would all be staged. Wrong. The initial surprise, my answers to their questions…they were surprisingly all real. And the camera crew was impressed with my archery skills, insisting on multiple shots at different angles. It was almost half an hour before they remembered I had an hour to pack before I needed to be at the airport. I got there eventually.

I'm doing this for Prim. The $5000,000 reward if I won would be more than enough to get her into med school. Money hadn't been easy to come by, not since my dad died when I was eleven. Prim was seven at the time and our mother all but checked out on us. She was so overcome with grief and Dad's death that all she did was lie in bed and stare at the wall. I had to step up and take on the role of caretaker for Prim.

Before he passed, Dad taught me the basics of how to hunt with a bow and arrows. For the next five years, my hunting became the main source of income but it could only do so much. But I was stubborn and I vehemently put my foot down on any kind of charity. The only exception was my best friend and that was because his family owned the only bakery in town. He was just too sweet and too understanding to say no to. But he was only allowed two cookies and two cupcakes a month.

When I turned sixteen, Mom came back to us, but not completely. She sometimes had days where she wouldn't leave, but she was a lot better then she had been.

I didn't trust her though. I didn't trust that she was officially coming back. I couldn't get over the fact that she pretty much left Prim and I alone to fend for ourselves.

She did though. She found a nursing job at the hospital and everything was going well. We were getting money and food was being put on the table.

But then she found the lump on her breast. A trip to the hospital and she was admitted immediately. I came home in a daze, my ears ringing with the doctor's voice, saying things like, "Stage four," "No cure," and "Six months to a year."

I wanted to turn to somebody, anybody, to unload, to forget for just a moment. To cry.

Only one person came to mind, but he'd moved to another town and I hadn't heard from him in three years. I had no one.

Mom passed away less than four after she was diagnosed and I suddenly found myself wishing we'd had those five years. I wanted my mom back.

But we had to move on, because we no longer had anybody else but each other. I got a job at the Hob, a diner in town whose chef, Greasy Sae, loved to experiment with the fresh meat I brought in. Against my better wishes, Prim got a part-time job at the hospital, just to have more income in the house. And this last year I started giving archery lessons and that more than helped but it was still slow going.

The last three years since Mom's death have been hard, but Prim and I have managed to make it work.

And now I'm doing this show and I promised Prim I'd come home with that money. She doesn't know I'm doing it for her though. Her seventeenth birthday is around the time I should be done with the show if I make it that far, so the money for her schooling would be the perfect birthday present.

_However_, I hated being holed up in a hotel room for a week and a half. My life spent in the woods of my hometown made me an antsy girl if stuck inside. But I'll be gone from this room tonight.

The sudden ringing of the phone jarred me out of my thoughts, making me jump.

I clambered over the bed and picked it up, if not to answer it then to shut up the damn ringing.

"Hello?" I asked, bringing the phone to my ear.

"You are needed in the lobby. You are to bring all of your belongings with you. Please leave the room key on the dresser," the male voice said on the other end.

I closed my eyes and grinned, excitement spreading through me. But I contained it and replied, "Ok, thank you." I saw my hand shaking a little as I hung up.

I sat there, as silent as a still wind, letting it sink in. After a few seconds, my wiggled a little, and an uncharacteristic squeal burst from my lips. It was shrill, loud, and utterly too girly to have come from me. I rolled my eyes and laughed at myself for my stupidity. This game was already changing me.

Ten minutes later, I was lugging my two bags out of the elevator. The small black duffel hanging from my shoulder was standard for all contestants to have and was used particularly for filming purposes. And it was definitely not big enough for a month's worth of clothes. So we were allowed to bring another, _bigger_, duffel. Mine was forest green, my favorite color. Prim bought it for me about a week before the cameras came. When I asked her what on Earth I would use it for, since we never went on trips, she just shrugged and said that I never knew when I would need it. As I was packing it before leaving for the airport, I remembered what she said and realized she knew I'd made it onto the show somehow. I vowed to myself then that I would kill her when I got home. After getting her into med school of course.

"Miss Everdeen?" a voice to my right asked. I looked around and saw the guy at the front desk looking at expectantly.

"Yes?" I answered, walking over to him.

"The limo will be here to pick you up in five minutes," he said, his eyes already shifting to the computer screen in front of him.

"Thank you," I said, changing direction and heading for the revolving door going outside.

It was blisteringly hot outside. For a girl who has lived her whole life near and in the cool shade of the woods, the muggy heat of Los Angeles, California was something my body was not accustomed to. I'm glad I decided to pack plenty of shorts and short-sleeved shirts; I think I would have died of heat exhaustion if I'd packed my normal jeans.

I didn't have to wait long before a black limo pulled up in front of the hotel. The driver's door opened and a man wearing a black suit stepped out. He walked around the front of the car, stopped next to the passenger door, and looked at me.

"Katniss Everdeen?" I nodded. "Right this way," he said, gesturing with his hand toward the door at the back of the car.

As I slipped into the car and took in the plush interior, I couldn't help but feel that excitement from the hotel room flooding through my body again. I couldn't help but think: This is real. This is actually happening.

To calm myself down a little, I mentally made a list. Dad taught me this little trick when I was very young and it worked almost every time.

_My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am 21 years old. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my little sister Prim. I am a professional archer and work at the Hob as a waitress._

_Tonight, I will become a houseguest and contestant of the _Big Brother_ house._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Not for the first time today, I felt underdressed. I thought I did fine when I slipped on the loose green top, jeans shorts, and black flats I'd picked out for this. But as I stood next to a tall blonde wearing a very sparkly red dress and silver heels, I felt like a dump. I suddenly remembered a boy from school, Cinna, who had an impeccable taste in fashion and an almost unhealthy obsession with fire. Last I heard, he was in New York, starting his own fashion line (_Cinder_, who would've thought?).

"Houseguests." My mind came back to the present as I heard Caesar Flickerman addressing us. "Take a moment to look at the people around you." We all complied, some of us with smiles on our faces, some with mild curiosity. The guy behind me was scowling and had a tough look about him. "For the next three months, these people will be your housemates. Over these coming months, the person next to you could become your next best friend while the person behind you may very well put a knife in your back." I made eye contact with Blondie behind me. The look he shot my way made my skin crawl and I quickly looked away. "You will be competing with each other for the opportunity to win half a million dollars. Once you enter the door behind you, you will not leave the house until you have either been evicted or you are the winner. I will now call the first three people who will enter the house."

My heart started rapidly beating and I could feel butterflies in my stomach as I waited. It seemed to take forever before he said anything else.

"Rue, Michael, Glimmer. You may now go into the _Big Brother_ house," Caesar's voice rang out. Slightly disappointed, I kept myself from looking around as the overly-dressed girl (I'm going to take a wild guess and say she's Glimmer) next to me bent down, grabbed her bright pink suitcase, and walked through the door behind us. Before the door could even close, I could hear the echoes of a high-pitched, excited scream. I tried to roll my eyes discreetly, but I still heard a chuckle from someone a couple people down.

Caesar gave them about thirty seconds before he called the next group.

"Cato, Clove, Thresh. You may now go into the _Big Brother_ house.

I heard rustling behind me and assumed Blondie just got called. I mentally pinged him as Cato. Fitting.

Another thirty seconds. "Jena, Marvel, Joline. You may now enter the _Big Brother_ house."

This was it, down to the last two. I'm finally going in. I could barely contain my excitement.

"And finally, Melina and Katniss. You may now join your housemates in the _Big Brother_ house."

I grabbed my bag, trying not to let how excited I was to show through.

Melina, a girl with red hair and a face like a fox, got to the door before me and was holding it open. Once I was through, the door clanged shut and I was facing a short hallway with another door at the end.

Despite my attempts to quash it, the excitement bubbled over and I was suddenly racing Melina to the door, hoping to be the first through.

I was faster than her and reached the door first, a second before she got there. I opened it wide and looked around me in wonder as I took a step inside.

The _Big Brother_ house has a different theme each year. This year looked to be the forest. Green and brown were the dominant colors, with splashes of blue and orange making an appearance, which I knew, somehow, was symbolizing the sunset. It made me think of my best friend from all those years ago. The orange of the sunset was his favorite color.

To my right was the living room. The walls were adorned with the images of trees. The plush chairs and couches arranged in a semicircle were a deep forest green while the two at the curve of the circle were a chocolate brown.

The dining room and kitchen were to my left. Instead of the green of the forest, this area was decorated with the colors of the sunset. The soft orange made my heart ache; I knew he would love this if he were here.

The other houseguests were racing around, looking at all the different rooms, claiming beds, and introducing themselves to each other. Before I realized it, my feet were speedily taking me past the living room and through the short hallway into the rooms past it. The beds in the first room were already claimed, a solid black duffel placed on each bed the only evidence of the claim.

There was another door in front of me and I pushed through the other houseguests to go through it. Only two beds in here were unclaimed. The one right next to the door was covered in a thick light-blue comforter while the other one was on the far end of the room against the wall, covered in a forest green comforter. As I walked over to the green bed, I snuck a glance at the blue bed, mentally calculating. Caesar only called three groups of three and one group of two. That means there are only eleven people currently in the house. The numbers each year are always changing. Usually there are fourteen houseguests, but if there's only eleven right now and one empty bed, there's going to be twelve this year. This just means that there is one more person we don't know about yet.

Great. It's hardly the first day and already there's going to be a twist.

"Hi," a voice said timidly behind me. I turned around to see a girl with very curly brown hair and dark skin standing there. She was older than Prim, but she reminded me of her somehow. "I'm Rue," she said, holding out her hand.

"Katniss," I replied, shaking her hand and giving her a small smile.

We started walking out of the room. Based on the level of noise, I'd estimate that the other houseguests are in the kitchen, probably getting their glass of champagne.

"Have you noticed that there are only eleven people in the house?" Rue asked me quietly.

I smirked and looked around, finding a camera pointing right at us. I leaned in to whisper to her, "I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed." She nodded.

A few minutes later, Rue and I had our glasses of champagne and all of us were seated on the couches and chairs in the living room. This was tradition in the _Big Brother_ house. Every year, on the first night, everybody sits in the living room and introduce themselves properly to the other houseguests.

Somehow, I ended up in one of the brown chairs at the curve of the circle. I really hoped this was going to be the _only_ time I was in these chairs this summer.

The introductions were quick and I forgot the names almost as soon as they were said. My thinking was correct with the two blondies; their names were Cato and Glimmer. However, I'm not entirely sure that's something to be proud of, having figured that out…

Right as we were finishing introducing ourselves, the T.V. screen high on the wall we were facing came on and Caesar's face was looking back at us.

"Hello Houseguests," Caesar greeted cheerily, the corners of his blue eyes crinkling as he smiled widely.

"Hi Caesar," we all chorused, a few of the girls giggling. A bit too much champagne, I guess. I met Rue's gaze and we both rolled our eyes at each other, grinning. I turned my attention back to Caesar as he began talking again.

"Now that you have settled in and introduced yourselves, it's time for the games to begin." I felt my heart begin to race, as tonight was the first Head of Household competition. Now, I didn't necessarily want to become HoH, not yet anyway, but I was excited to see what the competition was.

"However," Caesar abruptly said and I immediately felt my heart sink. Oh no… "It is not _Big Brother_ without a twist, and this summer is no exception."

Groans filled the air at this announcement, intermingled with indignant shouts of, "What?" Despite my suspicions earlier, I couldn't help but feel the same way; twists in this game were almost never a good thing for the houseguests.

Caesar continued speaking despite the commotion he stirred in the house.

"Some of you may have noticed that there are only eleven houseguests in the room." There were some murmurs of agreement while I saw a couple people (ahem. Glimmer) turning around and counting everyone present with a perplexed expression. I caught Rue's gaze in my direction and I raised my eyebrows at her. She smiled and nodded once before turning back to Caesar. I was kind of surprised at how well I could silently communicate with Rue after having just met her. It's just like how Prim and I communicate sometimes.

"There happens to be one more person you have not yet gotten to meet. However, one of you already knows them, but you have not seen them in a few years." A face immediately came to mind with those words and I begrudgingly felt a very small, very tiny sliver of hope sprout in my chest. But I quickly dashed it; there was no way he could be on this show. "There is only one rule you are to follow when you see them: you are not allowed to reveal your relationship with each other to the other houseguests. When you hear this sound," he paused and a sound very much like a cannon blast sounded through the house. "Then you can reveal yourselves to the other houseguests. If you succeed, both of you will gain $1,000 when you leave the house." And with that, the screen turned black and Caesar's face had disappeared.

We barely had time to react to Caesar's news when a tall figure stepped around the corner and into sight. One look at his beautiful blue eyes and I suddenly felt my heart constrict and lodge itself in my throat; I felt the prick of tears in my eyes and the sudden racing of my heart. It took all I had not to launch myself from this chair and into his arms. I wasn't allowed to after all, not if I wanted that money. Even if I didn't make it to the end, that thousand dollars, as much as I hated the circumstances that I was required to conform to to gain it, would go into a fund for Prim's schooling.

Because the last person I expected to ever see again, much less in the _Big Brother_ house with me, and my once best friend, who I haven't seen or talked to in six years, just walked into view and back into my life.

Peeta Mellark is now a _Big Brother_ contestant. And I can't even talk to him.

* * *

**A/N Ok, I felt I should probably explain a couple of things.**

**For those of you who do not watch _Big Brother_ (gasp blasphemy!), the Head of Household competition, or HoH, is a competition held about every week and a half. Whoever wins the competition becomes HoH and they move into the Penthouse upstairs. Their job as HoH is primarily to put two people on the chopping block and at the end of the week, the houseguests have a vote on who they want to evict out of the house. Whoever has the most votes is immediately evicted from the house. There is also the Power of Veto. Before evictions, the HoH, the two nominations on the block, and three other houseguests compete to win the Power of Veto. The PoV can either**** take someone off the block, forcing the HoH to put someone else up in their place, or leave the nominations how it is. If one of the nominations gets PoV, they can take themselves off the block. And last but not least: the Have-Nots. The Have-Nots are a small group of people each week who have to eat a disgusting-looking food called slop and usually something that America has voted on. That is all they are allowed to eat for the week. They also have to sleep on really uncomfortable beds for the week. After their week is done and the new group of Have-Nots have been chosen, they can go back to eating regular food and sleep in their own comfortable beds.**

**So, this is a_ Hunger Games_ meets_ Big Brother_ house story and I expect you have noticed that there are a few names you don't recognize. This is true, but those characters are in the_ Hunger Games_. Joline I have as the girl from District 8 that Peeta had to go back and "finish off." Jena is the girl from District 4, and Michael is the boy from District 3 (I expect you guys have figured out who Melina is, right? ;)). I needed 12 houseguests and wanted to have the tributes from the 74th Games in this and there weren't enough without these guys.**

**I'm going to try to update every Tuesday and Thursday, but if there isn't an update one of those two days, try to expect it within the next 36 hours; my summer has been really crazy since school got out and band camp is starting in a few weeks so updates could be a bit sporadic.**

**Anyway, happy reading! And may the odds be ever in your favor. ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Memories of a red plaid dress, of two braids instead of one, and a little five-year-old blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy suddenly clouded my mind's eye.

Peeta has always said it was that very first day of school, but I'm convinced we met long before that. There's never been a time when I _haven't_ known Peeta; he's just always been there. When Mom was pregnant with Prim and I was afraid my parents wouldn't love me anymore, he convinced me that they would still love me, that my new baby sister wasn't going to change that. He was there to comfort me and patch me up when I fell off my bike the first time riding it without training wheels.

He stood beside me, holding my hand, his thumb stroking small circles on my skin, as we watched the casket that held my father's body lower into the ground.

Peeta was always my steady rock. He was always able to keep me grounded when things proved to be too much. When he moved, I was devastated. I had lost my one true friend in the world. With him gone, I found myself walking along marshy plains and as cold as the winter wind that whistles through the trees. My life almost became unbearable without him.

And now here he is, standing in front of me, in the _Big Brother_ house after six years of nothing. Absolutely nothing. It was like I was in the middle of a really bad nightmare. Here's my best friend, who I haven't seen in six years, and, because of some stupid rule, I can't even talk to him or even so much as smile at him. And the look he gave me as he met my eyes for the briefest of moments told me he was thinking the same thing. Because we both knew that to keep the other houseguests from finding out about us, we wouldn't be able to interact with each other.

I suddenly found myself wishing that cannon blast would sound soon, because it's going to be hell until it does.

* * *

Caesar wasn't finished.

After another round of introductions and Peeta had gotten settled in, Caesar called us back to the living room. I made sure to stay as far away as possible from the two chairs and Peeta.

"As everybody knows," Caesar began, his face once again appearing on the screen. "The motto of _Big Brother_ is…"

"Expect the unexpected," most of the houseguests said with him.

_Oh no_, I thought. _Not another twist_. Peeta had been bad enough, now they're throwing another one in? The houseguests began groaning as they came to the same realization I did.

"Yes," Caesar said with a smile. "When you were given your key, you joined the ranks of some of the best _Big Brother_ players and tonight, you will be joined by four of the best."

If possible, the level of incredulous disbelief rose as what Caesar said sunk in. I couldn't believe it! Four of the best houseguests ever are coming back into the _BB_ house!

"However, they are not coming back in to compete with you." I felt my eyebrows furrow in confusion. What? "But to coach you."

The disbelief evaporated immediately, replaced by excited anticipation. I was already running through past houseguests that had been amazing contestants. There was…Johanna Mason, who floated along innocently until the very end when she proved to be a very strong competitor. By then, it was already too late to get her out and she ended up winning her season. Annie Cresta was sweet but she had to fight to stay in and came in second place to a big guy named Brutus. I felt she should've won that year, but the other houseguests didn't trust her for some reason.

"Here's how it works." Everybody quieted down to listen. "Each of the coaches is going to pick three of you and coach you all summer long. And they have a lot at stake as well, because, if one of the houseguests they have chosen wins it all, they will win $1000,000. Are you ready to meet your coaches, houseguests?" Caesar asked.

"Yes!" Everybody jumped up and raced for the door in anticipation just as the doorbell rang.

Melina and Glimmer got there first and opened the door. And in walked…

Haymitch Abernathy, the season one winner who was almost always drunk on the show but was as sharp as a tack. He was from Colorado and looked a lot like my dad, with his short brown hair and silvery-grey eyes. Seriously, the two could be cousins but Dad always insisted he didn't know him.

Needless to say, Haymitch played his game right. He kept to himself mostly and allied with only one other, Maysilee Donner. After she was evicted from the house, it was down to him and one more, but he was the winner, and the first of _BB_ history.

Exclamations of surprise erupted at his appearance. Haymitch hadn't been seen since the All-Stars season about six years ago when he came in third, but there was no doubt he was one of the best players.

Before two minutes could pass, the door opened again and Annie Cresta walked in. Immediately, her small frame and brown hair disappeared under a mass of bodies as everybody ran forward to hug her. She only came in second her season, but she was so well-loved.

The next person that walked in was Finnick Odair, the ladies' man who won the second season. Finnick was smart and never let any of the pressure get to him. He kept a cool head and helped in eliminating all the right players until he eventually won.

The last coach to walk through the door was Johanna Mason. Her entrance was less enthusiastic than the others as she hadn't been very well liked in her season, especially when her bubbly happiness vanished.

All in all, it was an interesting mix of coaches: a drunk, a ladies' man, an actor, and a sweet fighter. In my opinion: not bad.

A girl, whose name I suddenly remembered was Jena, said, just loud enough for everyone to hear, "This fucking just got real." I found I couldn't agree with her any more than I already did.

My gaze settled on Peeta from across the room and he gave me a small smile and shrugged.

This summer was going to be interesting.

* * *

**A/N This is shorter but it is a little bit of a filler; I promise the next one is longer :)**

**If you haven't noticed already, I am using this season's twists and competitions, but the storyline is essentially going to follow the book.**

**Hope you enjoyed! HoH competition next! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

After the coaches came in, everybody congregated to the kitchen and dining room. I was standing in front of the memory wall. The memory wall was a large board in the dining room that had all of the houseguests' pictures on it. When a houseguest is evicted, their picture gets greyed out.

I was antsy and not paying attention to the wall. I really did not like this feeling. I was supposed to be happy, excited. I was in the _Big Brother_ house for crying out loud! This is something I've wanted for years.

But…I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. This game was going to be one of the hardest things I have ever done if Peeta was going to be here and I can't talk to him. That cannon blast could go off at any time and my biggest fear is that it wouldn't go off until the very end of the summer or until one of us is evicted. I don't want to have to wait that long. I wanted Peeta to be my friend and ally, not be a stranger to me.

But I have to do this for Prim; if I can't get the half-million, the thousand is better than not getting anything at all.

"Hey."

The sudden voice at my side made me whirl around gasping.

"Oh, Rue!" I exclaimed, bringing a hand to my chest. "You scared me."

Rue snickered. "I can see that. Katniss, you do realize that we haven't even been in the house three hours yet, right? You don't have to be so jumpy yet."

I mock glared at her. "I know that. I was just thinking about something."

"Are you ok? Is there anything I can help with?" Rue asked, giving me a worried look.

I was suddenly hit with the realization of how much Rue reminded me of Prim. Prim can always tell if something is bothering me. I jokingly it called it her sixth sense. I assumed it was just a result of her caring nature.

Rue was like that. She had that caring side to her that gave her some kind of extra sense of somebody else's problems. It made my respect for her, after only knowing her for an hour, rise.

I gave her a small smile. "Yeah, I'm fine, I was just thinking of my little sister. I miss her," I answer, the last part almost a whisper. I looked down as I felt tears begin to prick the back of my eyes.

"Hey," Rue said softly, lightly touching my arm. "You'll see her, it's not like we're going to be in here forever." She gave me a small smile.

I smiled a little wider. "Yeah, I guess that's true. It's just that I haven't been away from her for this long before."

"Well, it sounds like you really care about her."

I nodded. "Yeah. I do." At that moment, I looked up and immediately made eye contact with Peeta. He gave me a small smile before turning back to the big guy with dark skin standing beside him.

"Do you mind if I go get something from my bag?" I ask, looking back at Rue.

She nodded, understanding in her eyes. "Yeah, sure."

I gave her a thankful smile and walked through the house to the bedroom. When I got there, I walked over to my bed and sat down.

I thought about Prim. I always worried about her. After Mom died and I had to take care of Prim by myself again, I got a little over-protective of her. I never let anything happen to her because if something had happened to her, I would never have forgiven myself.

My thoughts were interrupted as Caesar's voice came over the speakers. "Houseguests, please come to the living room."

That now familiar excitement bubbled up inside me, mixed with anxiety and pushing away the sadness. I walked out of the bedroom and sat on a seat in the living room as everybody else walked in.

The screen was filled with Caesar's smiling face. "The Head of Household is the most powerful position in the house. But there is more at stake than just the Head of Household in tonight's competition."

Whatever excitement had wheedled itself into my being…was gone. Just like that. With a few simple words and it was completely gone. The anxiety, however, tripled. This did not sound good.

"When you received your key to the _Big Brother_ house, you came in expecting to be in the house for at_ least_ a week. However," he paused, just long enough to get my anxiety to rise even more. "One of you will be leaving the _Big Brother_ house. Tonight."

My heart dropped to my stomach. _One of you will be leaving the Big Brother house. Tonight._ It wasn't fair. All of us had to go through the same audition process, go through the same state of worrying, wondering if we made it in, only for one of us to be kicked out the very first day. But Caesar was right. The stakes are really high going into the competition tonight. All of us had to fight to stay in the house tonight.

"Everybody to the backyard for the coaches' chance to pick their players." Caesar's face disappeared.

With a heavy feeling over everyone, we all walked out of the living room and into the kitchen to the back door. I found myself at the back of the group, waiting to go outside, and somehow next to Peeta. Looking ahead to make sure no one was watching us, I quickly grabbed his hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him look at me in surprise. I turned my head slightly to the side.

_Are you ok?_ he mouthed, a worried expression adorning his face.

I shrugged and gave him one, tight, shake of the head. He nodded, understanding. He gave my hand a squeeze and let go just as the grey steel door in the place of the sliding glass door began to lift.

Each competition had some sort of theme and because the producers don't want the houseguests to have an idea of what the competition is, the grey wall slides down in front of the back door to keep the backyard from view while it is being decorated in accordance of the theme. And as the backyard came into view, we all let out gasps when we saw the layout of the competition.

On the bottom, covering the whole of the backyard, was a dark blue floor, probably about a foot deep, and very padded. There were silhouettes of clouds attached to it. On one side of the yard were four different colored four-foot-tall beds with ladders leaning against them. The other side had large bins filled with what looked like extra-large teddy bears. Between the beds and the bins were twelve additional beds, four groups of three beds connecting the large bed with its respective bin on the other side.

"Houseguests, please make your way to the middle of the yard and stand on a circle. Coaches, each of you will take a bed on the right side and stand on it," a male voice said over the speakers.

While the coaches separated themselves to claim a bed, the rest of us went in search of the circles. When I stepped onto the padding, my foot sunk a couple inches and I was suddenly unsteady on my feet.

_I'm glad I wore flats_, I thought as I watched the girls with nine-inch heels take them off and go barefoot. I noticed Peeta watching them also and caught his eye. He grinned at me, nodding in their direction and raising his eyebrows. I smiled and nodded, silently snickering.

The circles were silver and a foot and a half in diameter. We found them in between the two middle rows of beds. There were twelve, one for each of us. The one I took was on the edge and towards the back, a little out of sight. As I waited for the other houseguests, my feet shifted nervously and I could feel my hands shaking. I can't deny that I'm nervous. I wasn't so nervous about the coaches picking so much as I was about the actual competition itself. I can't leave yet, not without a chance to really get to talk to Peeta and fight for my place in this house; I owed that to Prim. A lot was riding on tonight's competition.

When the houseguests and coaches were situated, Caesar's voice could be heard over the speakers.

"Coaches, it is now time for you to choose the houseguests who you think have what it takes to make it to the end. You can only choose three houseguests and remember: If you choose the houseguest that makes it to the end, you will win $1000,000. So, choose carefully. Annie," Caesar said, addressing the little coach on the green bed.

"Yes?" she asked timidly.

"You get to choose your first houseguest."

Annie observed all of us. "No pressure," Haymitch called out to her. She ignored him.

My mind was racing, despite my attempts to calm it down. Part of me wanted to prove I could stand my own in the house, but another part of me wanted to lie low and watch for a bit. I still couldn't believe that one of us was actually going to be leaving tonight. I was going to use everything in my power to make sure it wasn't going to be me _or_ Peeta.

"Cato."

Annie's voice cut through my thoughts. It made my nerves dim a notch. I was glad I wasn't chosen first, but I also hoped I wasn't going to be chosen last either.

Johanna was next and she chose Rue as her first player. Finnick's first choice was Thresh, the dark-skinned guy who I saw Peeta talking to earlier. And then Haymitch chose Joline, a petite girl with blonde curls and wearing a blue summer dress.

The order was reversed and Haymitch chose Peeta as his second player. Finnick chose Jena; Johanna chose Michael, a somewhat scrawny guy with thick-wired glasses and short reddish-brown hair; Annie chose Clove, a tall girl with a hard expression and long black hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Annie had to go again and picked Marvel, a tall boy with blonde hair. Johanna snagged Melina and then it was down to me and Glimmer.

I could already tell that Finnick was going to choose Glimmer; there was no doubt about it. And he proved it a second later when he called out her name, leaving me last.

As Glimmer made her way over to Finnick's bed, Caesar said, "That means, Katniss, you are part of Haymitch's team."

Ok, forget what I said about being nervous. That was gone completely. I was just plain relieved. I was on Peeta's team and automatically his ally. While I was climbing the ladder to the orange bed, I looked up at my new team and saw that Peeta was trying to smile discreetly, obviously thinking the same thing I was about being on a team together for the summer. I could feel a smile threatening to form on my own face as I made eye contact with him.

I pulled myself onto the bed and Haymitch pulled me into a one-armed hug before turning his attention back to the scene in front of him.

"We all know that _Big Brother_ is a summer-long slumber party. So, everybody into their ."

* * *

I felt ridiculous. When Caesar told us to get into our , I half-thought he was just kidding. Yeah, no. He wasn't kidding.

My typical outfit for bed _was_ a tank top with a light jacket and shorts, so this outfit wasn't that bad. However, there is one major difference between what I typically wear and what I'm wearing now: I wear _boxer_ shorts, not bootie about-to-ride-up-the-crack shorts. Seriously, I feel like if I move wrong, I'm going to flash everybody here. And all of America when this competition is shown in the first episode. I'm convinced these shorts were supposed to be Joline's, who is much smaller than me and would've fit better in these shorts, but she's snatched the bigger pair before I could even look at them.

I grumbled and groaned about them until Peeta started snickering, obviously amused by my pissiness. I smacked him in the arm, only to look around hurriedly to see if anybody had been watching. That only made him laugh harder. I settled with giving him my deadliest death glare. He finally shut up when he saw that; he knew if I gave that look, I wasn't going to take any crap from anybody.

"It's time for your first Head of Household competition of the summer!" Caesar exclaimed, bringing a round of cheers and applause from everybody in the backyard. "Remember coaches: you will _not_ be competing. Now, _Big Brother_ is usually an individual game, but tonight, you will be competing in teams. And the stakes have never been higher. The coach of the winning team gets to choose one of their players as the first Head of Household, while the coach of the losing team has to send one of their players home tonight." I gulped, keeping my eyes trained on the ground. _Peeta and I aren't leaving tonight. Peeta and I aren't leaving tonight_, I repeated in my head like a mantra.

He went on to explain the rules. On his go, one member from each team had to cross the beds in front of us to the bins on the other side. Once there, we had to grab a teddy bear, bring it back to this side, and put it on the 'toy shelf' hanging on the wall behind us. When we have all three bears, one of us had to go back over and turn off the night light above the bears on the other side. If at any point we are to fall off the beds, we had to go back to the side we started from and start again. After twenty minutes, the coaches could make one substitution.

It sounded simple enough. Until the middle beds started spinning around as soon as Caesar said, "On your marks."

I groaned and I wasn't the only one. Everybody else was looking at the middle beds in disbelief as well. I did not like this at all.

"Get set."

I was the first one to go on my team, but I wasn't going to let that, or the spinning bed, deter me. I've done a lot worse than this. I still have the scars.

"Go."

I immediately launched myself off the bed and onto the first bed, only to feel it wiggle under my feet. Not expecting it, I felt my knees slam into the bed. _Dammit_, I thought viciously. _Stupid game_. The spinning bed was one thing, but to throw in a very wiggly bed right before it? It made me nervous to find out what the third bed does. It'll more than likely be the worst of the three because it's the last one to the bears and they would want to make it as hard as possible to get to them.

I went into hunter mode and quickly regained my balance. I stayed low and leapt onto the spinning bed as soon as I could. I barely let it go around halfway before I jumped off only to feel the third bed tilt sharply as soon as my weight landed on it. I was right in thinking this bed was going to be the worst of the three. It was like a freaking teeter totter! You go on one side and it tilts that way and there was virtually no balance. I had to grab the sides of the bed tightly to prevent slipping off.

Not for nothing, though, was I one of the best tree climbers in my hometown. I climbed trees all the time while hunting to get a better vantage point from ahead. Even trees with no limbs I could scale in a second flat. You just had to know where to put your hands and feet.

I could feel the muscles in my arm straining as I pulled myself up. When I grabbed onto the other side of the bed, I could feel the bed begin to tilt the other and I lifted myself onto my feet just in time for the bed to launch me onto the bin. As soon as I landed, I heard a buzzer and I automatically thought I had done something wrong. But when I heard Caesar say, "Michael, you have fallen off, please go back and start again," I relaxed.

I grabbed a bear and, seeing that the shirt the bear was wearing was stretchy, looped the shirt around my neck and arm. I knew that I would need both hands going back so this was perfect.

Going back across was a little easier than coming over now that I knew what I was doing. In next to no time, I was on the wiggly bed and jumping onto the big bed. I heard a loud ding and Caesar saying, "Katniss scores the first bear for Haymitch's team," as I unhooked the bear and put it in the slot with my name on it on the shelf.

I turned around just as two more buzzers sounded and Peeta was jumping off the wiggly bed. But he jumped at the wrong time. The long side of the bed was facing him and he hadn't regained his balance yet; the bed wiggled under his feet and he ended up slamming into the side of the spinning bed. He landed on the padded floor right as a buzzer sounded. Another two dings rang.

Peeta's second time around was much better. He was on the first bed then the second in seconds. He contemplated the third bed for a second for a second before making the leap. He landed on the side closest to the spinning bed and immediately grabbed the other edge.

Lifting hundred-pound bags of flour as a child at his family's bakery gave him the advantage of having amazing upper body strength. He was quickly able to pull himself up and jump off the bed when it tilted. He grabbed a bear and looped the shirt around himself like I did before jumping onto the teeter totter. He struggled with it for a few seconds before conquering it and jumping onto the spinning bed. Seconds later he was jumping onto the big bed right as I heard a loud ding and cheers. I looked over and saw that Johanna and Finnick's teams were still on their second bear while Annie's last player had just jumped onto the spinning bed for the first time.

My attention was brought back to Joline when I heard a buzzer and saw her running back to the bed. She made it to the spinning bed for the second time right as the thought that she was going to be our weak link crossed my mind.

It took her close to five minutes to get to the bears. And when she did get there, it was only to be met by even more cheers and an announcement from Caesar as the last of the Annie's team, Marvel, hit the star-shaped night light. I caught sight of Cato and he smirked at me from where he stood. I quickly looked away.

We were down to the last three contestants. Literally. Joline from our team, Glimmer from Finnick's, and Michael from Johanna's.

"Joline, grip the sides and climb up," Peeta shouted, helping Joline.

"The sides?" she asked, confused.

"Yes," I pitched in. "Grab the sides and walk up. When you can, grab the other side of the bed and climb up until it starts to tilt in that direction. Then stand on the bed like a frog and jump onto the middle bed as soon as you can."

"Like a frog. Got it," I could hear her grumble.

I tried to help, but there wasn't much anybody could really do. She lacked the upper body strength and she couldn't grip the sides and pull herself up enough to try what I said. The only consolation was that the others couldn't get passed that bed either; there must've been at least a dozen buzzers since Joline had grabbed her bear.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, Caesar made the announcement that the coaches could substitute their player.

"Peeta, go," Haymitch said. He nodded once and immediately jumped onto the first bed. He raced across the first bed, the second, and, shockingly, used his momentum to run across the third bed without a problem. He grabbed a bear and had to climb up the teeter totter before jumping onto the spinning bed and racing to the big bed. Two dings sounded as he landed on the bed and a third sounded as Haymitch gave me a small push and I jumped onto the first bed. Following what Peeta did, I raced across the spinning bed and attempted to run across the third bed, but my momentum wasn't as fast as his and I ended up having to grab the sides of the bed. After I heard an announcement from Caesar that Finnick's team was finished, I didn't waste any time climbing up the bed and jumping onto the bin. As soon as my feet landed on the bin, I jumped forward with my arm outstretched, reaching to press the nightlight first.

An overwhelming feeling of joy and relief overcame me when I finally heard the ding, followed by another barely half a second later.

It wasn't until I saw the looks of shock on my team's faces that I realized something was wrong.

And then I knew what was wrong.

There were two dings, one right after the other. I had been so overcome with joy when I heard the first one that it hadn't even registered that it went off before I even touched our nightlight.

I almost crumpled when the realization hit. The fight immediately left me and was immediately replaced with an incredible sadness. From across the yard, I could see the same look on my teammate's faces, because they understood, too.

One of us was going home tonight.


	5. Author's Note

I know, I know, an update completely devoted to an Author's Note. I'm sorry! :( I don't like them either, much less actually having to write one.

You're probably all wondering why I haven't been updating and really, the answer is simple, so simple it really kind of sucks: a little thing called _Real Life_.

First of all, I've been in summer school (I had to, one of them is a class required for graduation and I couldn't fit it into my schedule for this fall) and that kept me kind of busy but not enough to not be able to write and update. What really killed the updating was band camp started last week and that really killed it.

But don't worry! I'm still continuing with this story, I just haven't been able to work on it like I would have liked. Right now, until after finals next week, the writing will be on hold and then I'll compensate for it by loading like a bajillion chapters all at once :)

Just wanted to reassure you all that yes, I am still working on this story and plan on finishing it, it'll just be a bit before I can update again.

I'm really sorry about the inconvenience of an Author's Note, I never thought I'd have to write one if I did a multi-chapter story :(


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N I'M BACK! =D **

**I am so incredibly sorry for the horrible long wait! I know I said in the last AN that I would update right after that but what I didn't intend was to have my life completely and totally turned upside down by pretty much..._everything_. And on top of all of that, this chapter was the hardest chapter I have had to write in my life, which is weird since it wasn't all _that_ hard (I'm confusing you now, aren't I? I'm sorry! :( :P) to write. But I'm back! And hopefully for good. I'm gonna try to keep on top of the writing now but I'm taking out the Tuesday and Thursday updates that I had originally planned to do; it is just way too constricting and I don't have any guarantees that I will be able to do that, so updates are now going to be whenever I can get the chapter written and uploaded. **

**ANYWHO! Here's the next chapter! For a quick refresher (since it's been so long), the houseguests have moved into the Big Brother house and have just done the first Head of Household competition of the summer. Annie's team (which includes Cato, Clove, and Marvel) won the competition whereas Haymitch's team (Katniss, Peeta, and Joline) lost, so Annie gets to choose the first HoH and Haymitch has to send one of his players home. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Chapter Five

"Annie, since your team won, you get to choose the first Head of Household."

It was five minutes later and everybody was back on their respective bed. I was still reeling from our loss and I was a jangled mess of nerves. I worried that Haymitch was sending either Peeta or I home tonight. _But_, a voice in my head reasoned. _You and Peeta were the strongest physically in the competition; he may not get rid of you_. I sighed. This was going to be a long night.

"I choose Cato."

Was it possible for this feeling of despair to get even worse? If I didn't leave tonight, I just knew I was going to be put on the block. I knew from just looking at Cato that he didn't like me. I glanced in his direction and he shot me a triumphant smirk.

I inwardly groaned and looked away as Caesar said, addressing Cato, "Congratulations Cato, you are now the first Head of Household of the summer!"

Annie's team cheered (Cato gave a loud whoop and punched the air) while everybody else just clapped.

"Haymitch," Caesar continued. "You now have the difficult decision of letting one of your players go tonight. May it be a good decision."

I could feel my legs shaking as we walked back into the house. The grey wall sliding down felt a little ominous and claustrophobic. While everybody else was talking and laughing, there was a raincloud hovering over Peeta, Jolene, and I. Haymitch walked off somewhere as soon as we walked in, probably to think things through. Or to find stronger alcohol.

"Katniss, please go to the Diary Room."

I started, a little shocked that I was the first houseguest to be called into the Diary Room. But I made my way to the living room, where the door to the DR was to the side of the semi-circle of couches.

When I opened the door, I found myself facing a silhouette of tree on the wall. I turned to the right and saw that the walls of the short hallway were painted a dark blue with little white dots to resemble stars. There was another tree silhouette on the other end of the hall.

I walked through the door at the end of the hall and saw that the DR was actually bigger than I thought it would be. After watching the show for so many years and only seeing a portion of the DR, I just assumed that that was all there was too it. But the room was in fact about double-and-a-half of what you see on the screen. And like the hallway outside, the walls in here were painted a dark blue.

To the left was a large loveseat about a shade lighter than the walls. Behind it on the wall were more painted-on stars. The wall it was facing had a large square cut out of it and I could see a much smaller room with a camera aimed through the square at the chair.

I perched myself on the seat and self-consciously glanced at the camera. I hated being in front of a camera and I know that that's very ironic, but while I'm in the house, there are fifteen other people who are getting camera time also, not just me. Being in the DR is a completely different story because it's all you for however long you are in there. Even the filming at home when I found my key was almost way too much.

"Hello Katniss," a male voice said over the speakers in the room.

"Hello," I responded a little shyly.

As the producer explained the logistics of the DR, I wondered what they wanted to talk to me about. Probably my thoughts on Haymitch's upcoming decision.

"So, Katniss," the producer's voice almost immediately went from firm and informative to warm, friendly, and gossipy. I mentally rolled my eyes. "What is it that is going on between you and Peeta?"

I felt my body go rigid with shock. I started fidgeting with the end of my braid, an old nervous habit of mine. "W-What makes you think that there's something between the two of us? I…only just barely met him?" To my dismay, it came out as a question as opposed to a statement of truth. There was no hiding from this one now.

"Oh, come on," Mr. Producer cooed. "Don't play coy with us. We all saw that little bit of hand-holding before the Head of Household competition. And we didn't miss the absolute look of shock on your face when he walked in earlier. So, tell me: is he a boyfriend or someone close?"

I felt my cheeks blush tomato-red but Mr. Producer rambled on, eventually coming to the conclusion that Peeta couldn't possibly be my boyfriend because A. Caesar had even said that we hadn't seen each other in years and B. I was from Colorado whereas Peeta was from the L.A. area. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My boyfriend?! How could he be so ridiculous? Peeta and I were just friends, best friends. Neither of us liked the other in that way.

"Ok," I half-shouted, effectively getting the producer to shut up (he was now going on about Peeta and I being long-lost lovers who, by a twist of fate, found each other again in the _BB_ house. He was even calling us the 'star-crossed lovers'). I took a breath and let it out before replying. "Peeta and I grew up together in Colorado. We were best friends when we were younger." I felt a smile tug at my lips as I felt a wave of nostalgia. "We did everything together. Everybody called us the 'Dynamic Duo' because we were always getting into trouble or doing something sneaky." I trailed off a little as sadness suddenly overcame me.

"What happened?" the producer asked, obviously seeing my sadness.

I gave a sad smile. "My dad died when we were younger and Peeta kind of became of lifeline. I didn't realize it at the time, but Peeta essentially saved my life."

"How so?"

"He was really the only one who was there for me. I didn't have very many other friends and my sister was too young to understand what was going on with me. I turned to Peeta for comfort." I stopped, uncomfortable with talking about myself for so long. Talking about Peeta made it even harder.

"How did you two lose touch?"

I shrugged a little. "It's simple really; his family moved away when we were fifteen. They didn't leave us any contact information so I had no way of getting a hold of him when they moved." I swiped my finger at my eye, wiping away a tear that threatened to spill; I wasn't going to cry in front of the camera.

"What's it like to see him after all these years?"

I let out a little laugh, amused, but I thought about it for a second. "Weird," I finally answered. "I didn't expect to ever see Peeta again, _especially_ not in the _Big Brother_ house. It's a little surreal. And to not even be able to talk to him? My only hope is that I don't have to wait all summer – considering I make it that long – before that damn canon sounds."

"I bet you are. Thank you Katniss, you may go back now."

"Thank you," I said as I stood up and walked out of the room. I passed Joline as I passed through the door into the living room; she must've been called into the DR as I was leaving.

Eyeing the brown couches in the living room, I went to the kitchen, where most everyone was gathered. A quick look around showed me that neither Peeta nor Haymitch were there. I wandered into the kitchen area and searched through the cupboards, looking for a glass. After pulling out a tall brown glass, I went over to the sink and filled it with water.

Taking a drink from it, I turned around and watched my housemates, leaning against the counter behind me. Peeta had come back in but Haymitch was still nowhere to be seen; it looked like Joline was still in the DR.

I watched Peeta's back as he looked at the memory board. I hadn't noticed earlier, but my picture was placed right next to his.

Taking a really quick glance around, I looked back at Peeta and, tilting my head to the side a little, I watched him with a perplexed expression. This was, of course, just a ploy to throw off any suspicions that may have possibly generated during the course of the day. I hoped we hadn't made ourselves obvious, but you could never be too careful.

I saw Rue out of the corner of my eye as she walked up to me and stood by my side, leaning against the counter. She was silent for a while before she looked around and asked, "What are you looking at?"

I shrugged and took another sip of water, shifting my eyes away from Peeta's back; he was still looking at the memory wall but I had a feeling he wasn't actually seeing it. "Nothing," I said.

Rue glanced in the direction I had been looking. She leaned towards me and asked in a low voice, "Who do you think it is?"

I shrugged again and pretended to think, glancing around the room. A voice said through the speakers, "Peeta, please go to the Diary Room."

As Peeta left the room, I noticed Glimmer, who was talking with Cato and Clove, watching him intently. And I didn't miss the small smile or the glint in her eye.

Raising my eyebrows, I tilted my head in Glimmer's direction. "Look at Glimmer."

Rue looked over and we both watched as Glimmer kept her eyes on the spot where Peeta disappeared, a slight wistful expression on her face. I also saw the thoughtful expression on Rue's face and smirked triumphantly for a very brief moment before composing my features again.

Honestly, it wasn't all that hard to implicate Glimmer; she had offered me the perfect opportunity at the perfect time and all I had to do was take advantage of it. Hopefully Rue will now spread it around and any suspicions on me will be gone.

We watched Glimmer for a little while longer, but when she turned her attention away from the living room, we started talking. I found out Rue was the oldest of six kids. She had to find a job early in her teens to help support the family, meaning she had to drop out of high school and get her G.E.D. by learning everything she could at the library when she had the time.

Listening to her talk about her home life made me think of my own. I always knew our situation had never been the best, but, despite my mother's depression and all our hardships, we made it work, if only a little. Other families, I knew, were in worse situations than ours. In the part of town we lived in, nicknamed the 'Seam,' we were lucky to have a roof over our heads and a warm bed at night. There were far too many times I watched as a freshly snow-covered body was covered in a blanket and transferred to the hospital. After Dad died, I made sure to never let Prim, Mom, or myself meet that same fate. It made me appreciate what little we did have.

* * *

After both Peeta and Haymitch spent time in the DR, Cato was called in. He came out fifteen minutes later calling, "Everybody into their bathing suits; its picture time!"

I had been expecting it but that didn't stop me from groaning silently. Every year, the fans of the show had the privilege of viewing full group photos of the houseguests online before the first episode aired. The main group picture was almost always in taken in the pool in the backyard.

It wasn't that I had a problem with taking a picture in a swimsuit. What I had a problem with was the navy-blue bikini Prim insisted I pack. I humored her but I forgot to pack a one-piece, a fact I grudgingly realized at the hotel when I wanted to take a dip in the pool.

Once I was changed (covered in a light long-sleeve sweatshirt), I waited for everyone else by plopping myself onto one of the barstools at the counter in the kitchen. Some of the other houseguests had already changed and were milling about, waiting for the others.

My back was facing the hallway to the bathroom, so I didn't see Glimmer until I heard a would-be seductive voice say next to me, "Oh yeah, I'd definitely tap that." Nearly falling off the stool in shock, I turned in her direction, immediately wishing I hadn't. She was leaning against the counter, her elbows propped up, making her chest pop out, wearing a hot pink bikini that consisted mostly of string and very skimpy triangles of fabric.

"What?" I asked.

"That piece of hot stuff over there," she nodded her head in the direction of the bathroom. "I'd give him a trip down Sexy Lane."

Thinking she was talking about Cato (blagh!), I discreetly rolled my eyes and glanced in the direction she indicated. Only to do a double take.

She was definitely _not_ talking about Cato.

Let me just point out that Peeta, while I still viewed him as my best friend even to this day, was definitely no longer a shrimpy fifteen-year-old boy. And yes, I am saying shrimpy because standing next to the hallway leading into the bathroom was a twenty-one-year-old man whose arm, chest, and stomach muscles had developed from clumsy and bulky to trimmed and defined. He was wearing white swimming trunks with sunset-orange accents that hung low on his hips. He obviously still bakes, or at least works for a bakery, because there's no doubt in my mind that he still carries around hundred-pound bags – maybe even two-hundred-pounds now! – of flour like it was no big deal.

I could understand the change, even if it was a little shocking, what I didn't understand was why my heart suddenly started to race and why there were now butterflies flying around in my stomach. It wasn't until Glimmer said, "And I guess I'm not the only one," in a low voice that I realized I was blushing and my mouth was agape.

If possible, I blushed harder and quickly looked away, sputtering, "N-no I'm not, why would you think that?"

Glimmer quirked an eyebrow at me, unconvinced. "Yeah, whatever. Now watch." She smirked. "And learn." She sauntered her way over to Peeta, popping a hip and twirling a curl around her finger.

I glowered at her from across the room but otherwise tried to ignore it. I knew Peeta wouldn't fall for it. He wasn't that kind of guy so he could easily look through it. So then why did I feel this burning feeling in the pit of my stomach that almost made me want to punch someone's face in? It spread from my stomach into my chest and made my breath quicken. It felt like anger, but there was something else underneath, just below the surface of the anger. I couldn't tell what it was and I didn't like it.

My head popped up when I heard a loud obnoxious laugh coming from that direction and I saw Glimmer laughing at something that Peeta must've just said, her hand placed on his upper arm. I glared at her but I caught sight of the look on Peeta's face and calmed down a little. He was uncomfortable, it was easy to see, but Glimmer was either steadfastly ignoring it or completely oblivious to it. In all honesty, it could be either.

Peeta looked away at the same Glimmer did and caught my eye. He gave me a 'help-me-I'm-in-trouble' grimace and moved his gaze back just as Glimmer came back. I grimaced a little and gave a miniscule shrug, not knowing what to do. He set his mouth in a thin line and discreetly nodded his head before changing his features back to normal again. Peeta could see me in his peripheral vision and knew exactly what I was saying. That's how we communicated a lot when we were younger: little movements of the head or an expression we tried to express. We knew each other so well we caught onto each other's little quirks and pretty much formed our own language. It boggled our parents' minds because we were able to have silent conversations from across the room without anybody else knowing.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, everybody had changed into their suits and we were told to head out to the backyard. However, pictures took even longer, and if there's one thing I hate more than being in front of a camera, it was being told to position my body in a specific way and then holding it for God knows how long.

There was the typical pool group photo and then the photographers had the four teams separate so that we could take pictures with our coaches. The coaches sat on chairs that were placed on the yard and their players were arranged around them. I was put between Peeta and Joline, in descending order from tallest to shortest, curving slightly around Haymitch's chair.

All the while, I caught Glimmer sneaking peeks back at us….no, at _Peeta_, and that burning feeling in my stomach never went away. But I guess it was affecting the expression on my face or how I held myself because the photographers were always having me move something. More than once, they yelled at me to smile brightly and I would feel a sharp prod in the small of my back from Peeta. I grumbled but otherwise ignored him and tried to smile just a little bit brighter.

After pictures were finished, we were told to go inside, change back into our clothes and meet in the living room. While the other houseguests were changing, Peeta, Joline, and I were told to grab our luggage and place it in near the front door when we had changed.

As I changed into my normal clothes, I could hear the excited chatter from the rest of the houseguests and it did not help at all with my nerves. My nerves have never calmed down today, but it felt like they had intensified because of the elimination ceremony tonight.

When I was done, I wandered around the house for a little bit, waiting for everyone else. Joline tried to talk to me once, but we were both way too preoccupied to say more than a few words to each other. And I knew that we were both thinking the same thing: Haymitch. As far as I knew, Haymitch hadn't spoken to any of us and I was tempted to seek him out and maybe get a feel for what his thoughts were. And maybe – _maybe_ – give him a few thoughts of my own to possibly consider. But somehow I knew it would be a worthless effort. Haymitch worked on his own in his time as a contestant and no doubt he would be even worse as a coach now; he wouldn't listen to me.

Too soon it seemed, we were all back in the living room and Peeta, Joline, and I were on the two brown seats. Well, Joline and I were. Peeta got lucky and took a seat on the green couch right next to me. The three of us kept to ourselves mostly, barely saying a word to each other.

Five minutes later, my stomach gave a nasty twinge of nervous energy when the T.V. flickered on and Caesar's smiling face appeared on the screen. Everyone quieted down immediately.

"Good evening, Houseguests," he greeted, giving all of us a toothy grin. He waited for all of us to say hello back before continuing. "As you all know, the coach for the team that lost the Head of Household competition has to make the difficult decision of evicting one of their players tonight. As the coach of said team, Haymitch, please make your decision."

Haymitch stood up and went to stand in the area between the couches and the T.V. He crossed his arms over his chest and pretty much glared at Peeta, Joline, and I. He looked like he hadn't made a decision yet, but I could tell, somehow that he had already made his decision; there was something about the look he was giving us that told me.

He finally cleared his throat and started. "Houseguests, Caesar," he gestured absentmindedly behind him. "I'm not going to lie and say that this was an easy decision to make." My eyes narrowed, unbelieving. He met my eyes once and looked away. "Because it wasn't easy. I have three very good players and they all proved that in the competition today. I didn't get the chance to talk to any of them, but I can tell that each one of them is a strong player and could go far in this game. But unfortunately, I have to tell someone that their time in the house is over, which is not a fun thing to do. I have made my decision and…" He paused, no doubt for dramatic effect. "Joline, I'm sorry, but I've chosen you to leave the house tonight."

"Which means," Caesar began. "Joline, you have been evicted from the Big Brother house. Please take a minute to say your goodbyes, and come out here to join me."

I stood up at the same time Peeta and Joline did. Before I could say anything, Joline pulled me into a hug and whispered into my ear, "Good luck in here. That Cato guy doesn't look very nice."

_So I wasn't the only one who had noticed_, I thought to myself. In her ear, I whispered, "I know, but thanks for the warning."

She squeezed me a little before letting go and hugging Peeta. I tried not to notice that she hugged Peeta a little bit longer than was necessary.

Joline got a hug from everyone before she grabbed her duffel, waved one more time to everyone, and walked through the door.

My head tilted back and I ran my hands through my hair, releasing a breath of air I didn't realize I'd been holding. I followed everyone else as they headed into the kitchen area, but I stopped in front of the memory wall. The others talked as I stared at Joline's picture, her bright smile, bright blue eyes, and curly blonde hair.

I should've felt relief, I should be happy that I was still in the house and that Haymitch didn't kick either Peeta or I out, that I had a chance to prove myself in this house. But I felt none. If anything, I was nervous.

Peeta stood beside me and we watched as the colors of Joline's picture faded to grey.

"We're safe," he said, low enough so only I heard.

I glanced at him and smiled tightly. "Yeah, we're safe," I agreed, but half-heartedly. The nomination ceremony was in two days, and I just knew I was going up on the block. "We're safe for now."


End file.
